View source for Zoom (1972 TV series)

{{needs more sources|date=October 2024}}
{{Short description|Educational television series}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = Zoom 1972 series logo.svg
| caption              =
| alt_name             =
| genre                = Educational
| creator              = Christopher Sarson
| based_on             =
| developer            =
| writer               =
| director             =
| creative_director    =
| presenter            =
| starring             = See [[#Cast (in order by introduction in the opening song)|Cast section]]
| judges               =
| voices               =
| narrated             =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme            =
| endtheme             =
| composer             =
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| num_seasons          = 6
| num_episodes         = 155
| list_episodes        =
| executive_producer   = Christopher Sarson (1972–1974)<br/>Kate Taylor (1975–1978)
| producer             =
| editor               =
| location             = [[WGBH-TV|WGBH Studios]]<br/>[[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]]
| cinematography       =
| camera               = Segments
| company              = [[WGBH-TV]]
| network              = [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]]
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1972|1|9}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1978|2|10}}
| related              = ''[[Zoom (1999 TV series)|Zoom]]'' (1999 series)
}}
'''''Zoom''''' (stylized as '''''ZOOM''''') is a half-hour [[educational television]] program, created almost entirely by children, that aired on [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] originally from January 9, 1972, to February 10, 1978, with reruns being shown until September 12, 1980. It was originated and produced by [[WGBH-TV]] in [[Boston]].<ref>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Grabbing Viewers 'Tween 8 and 14|author=Julie Salamon|date=February 15, 2002|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/15/movies/critic-s-notebook-grabbing-viewers-tween-8-and-14.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=That 70's Show: The Bouncy Everykids of 'Zoom'|author=Emily Nussbaum|date=August 24, 2003|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/24/arts/television-reruns-that-70-s-show-the-bouncy-everykids-of-zoom.html}}</ref> Inspired by educational shows like ''[[Sesame Street]]'' and ''[[The Electric Company]]'', but designed to give the kids who watched it a voice without adults on screen, it was, for the most part, unscripted. Far from seeking to make stars of the child performers, their contracts prohibited them from making any television appearances or doing commercials for three years after they left the show.
The show was [[Zoom (1999 TV series)|revived in 1999]] and aired on PBS until 2005.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Newton |first1=Catherine |title=It's Ubbi-Dubbi all over again: "Zoom" zooms back to TV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/136389959/?terms=%22ubbi%2Bdubbi%22 |access-date=13 June 2020 |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=January 20, 1999}}</ref>
==Premise==
A cast of seven kids (ten in Season 4) known as ZOOMers presented various activities such as games, plays, poems, recipes, jokes, movies and science experiments, all suggested by viewer contributions. These activities were introduced by such titles as ZOOMovie, ZOOM Play of the Week, ZOOMgame, ZOOMdo, ZOOMgoody, ZOOMphenomenon, etc. The cast also had informal chats on subjects such as hospitals, school, family and prejudice, titled ZOOMraps. Each episode ended with a choreographed song performed by the cast.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
The ZOOMers were only identified by first names, and in the early seasons half the cast were replaced every six months, allowing a set of veteran cast members to help new members become accustomed to the show.<ref name="Woolery">{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946–1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series |date=1985 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1651-2 |pages=574–575}}</ref> The cast was chosen by audition, and the producers made efforts to include children of multiple cultures and backgrounds.<ref>{{cite web|title=Being on Zoom|author=Nicholas Butterworth|url=https://moistworks.com/home/zoom}}</ref>
The mail-in request became a pop culture reference for its musical exhortation to "Write ''ZOOM'', Z-double-O-M, Box 3-5-0, Boston, Mass 0-2-1-3-4: send it to ''ZOOM''!". The lines were mostly spoken, but the [[zip code]] was sung.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
In the opening sequence, each cast member performed a brief "signature move," and second season cast member Bernadette's "arm thing" (a helicopter-like series of arm moves) became famous among the show's young audience.<ref name=kamp>{{citation |last=Kamp|first=David |title=Come On and Zoom-Zoom | newspaper=[[The New Yorker]] |date=May 11, 2020 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/come-on-and-zoom-zoom}}</ref> By popular demand, Bernadette eventually explained on the show how to perform the move.<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Worcester Telegram & Gazette]]|title=ZOOM' holds treasured memories|author=Pamela H. Sacks|date=2002|url=http://www.pamelahsacks.com/zoom-holds-treasured-memories-200.htm}}</ref>
The program featured its own language, [[Ubbi-Dubbi]], where the syllable "ub" was added before each vowel sound in each syllable of each word ("H-ub-i, fr-ub-iends," etc.). For the first two seasons, a word game named "Fannee Doolee" was featured, in which a series of statements about the titular character were presented to the audience without further explanation (e.g., "Fannee Doolee likes sweets, but hates candy"). It was eventually revealed that Fannee Doolee loved all words with double letters and hated all words without them.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Each show had one or two ZOOMguest sequences, short film documentaries about children with special talents (singing, tap-dancing, instrument-making, etc.) or interesting hobbies or jobs. The premiere episode featured a boy who built a boat by making a ring of sticks and twigs and covering them with a tarpaulin.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Throughout the show's run, [[Newton Wayland]] was the musical director, while Billy Wilson handled choreography during the first four seasons.<ref>IMDB, accessed October 29, 2022, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7051437/</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Billy Wilson {{!}} Additional Crew, Director, Actor |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933068/ |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref>
In the show's first two seasons, Tracy hosted a "Tracy Asks..." sequence in which she asked a question, e.g., "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" or "What is the world's longest word?", and local children were filmed giving their answers. In later episodes, other cast members hosted and the segment was retitled "ZOOM in the Street." The first two seasons had "quickie" comedy routines modeled after ''[[Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In]]''. Season 4 featured a recurring mock-soap opera titled ''As the World ZOOMs.''{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
The performers in the original series were known for wearing [[Rugby shirt|striped rugby shirts]] and jeans. The cast often performed barefoot in seasons 1 and 2 but wore shoes from season 3 on.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
The first ''ZOOM'' series lasted six seasons (1972–1978) and featured 49 ZOOMers. During the second and third seasons, cast members were transitioned with a catchy production number that introduced the new cast members to the continuing cast members. The same song was used for each transition ("How do ya do do-dee-do, how do ya do-dee-do-dee-do, how's your sister, how's your brother, how are you?"), based on the [[Woody Guthrie]] song "Howjadoo." In the last three seasons, entirely new casts were used.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Several episodes were available with captions for the hard-of-hearing.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
==Cast (in order by introduction in the opening song)==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Season
!Cast Member #1
!Cast Member #2
!Cast Member #3
!Cast Member #4
!Cast Member #5
!Cast Member #6
!Cast Member #7
!Cast Member #8
!Cast Member #9
!Cast Member #10
|-
|1 (1972)
|Joe Shrand
|Nina Lillie
|Kenny Pires
|Tracy Tannebring
|Tommy White
|Nancy Tates
|Jon Reuning
| colspan="3" rowspan="6" |
|-
| rowspan="3" |2 (1972–1973)
| rowspan="2" |Maura Mullaney
|Kenny Pires
| rowspan="2" |Ann Messer
| rowspan="2" |David Alberico
|Nancy Tates
| rowspan="2" |Jay Schertzer
|Tracy Tannebring
|-
| rowspan="2" |Luiz Gonzales
| rowspan="2" |Bernadette Yao
|[[Leon Mobley]]
|-
|Edith Mooers
|Lori Boskin
|Danny McGrath
|[[Leon Mobley]]
| rowspan="2" |Neal Johnson
|-
| rowspan="2" |3 (1973–1974)
|Danny McGrath
|Edith Mooers
|Mike Dean
| rowspan="2" |Donna Moore
| rowspan="2" |Timmy Pruce
|Lori Boskin
|-
|Mike Dean
|Rose Clarkow
|Hector Dorta
|Shawn Miranda Reed
|Danny Malloy
|-
|4 (1974–1975)
|Harvey Reed
|Tishy Flaherty
|David "Red" O'Brien
|Cate Wadsworth
|Norman Christian
|Tracey Dellaria
|Tommy Schultz
|Carmen Hernandez
|David Azzoto
|Andrae Wyatt
|-
|5 (1976)
|Chris Blackwell
|Jennifer Gold
|Ron Richmond
|Arcadio Gonzales
|Karen Wing
|Levell Gethers
|Nell Cox
| colspan="3" rowspan="2" |
|-
|6 (1977–1978)
|Amy Clark
|John Lathan
|Carolyn Malcolm
|Nicholas Butterworth
|Shona de Nile
|Chee Kim
|Susan Wolf
|}
Some PBS stations continued to broadcast reruns of the series until September 12, 1980.
==Merchandise==
In 1973, the cast members from the first season released an album titled ''Playgrounds'' (LP {{OCLC|3399239}}) (produced by [[Rupert Holmes]]) that was available by mail order.<ref>{{Citation |title=Playgrounds {full album} |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx1hzCz_50U |access-date=2023-12-20 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1974, [[A&M Records]] released an album of songs from the show titled ''Come on and ZOOM'' (LP {{OCLC|3060311}}; cassette {{OCLC|18900529}}), featuring various cast members from the second season and third season. The catalogue number of the album was SP-3402 (213 402 under the PolyGram system).{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
In 1977, [[Rounder Records]] released ''ZOOM Tunes'', featuring various cast members from the third season, fourth season, and fifth season.<ref>Discogs, accessed February 25, 2022, https://www.discogs.com/release/4430719-Various-Zoom-Tunes-Songs-From-The-Three-Time-Emmy-Award-Winning-Childrens-TV-Show</ref> John Nagy and [[Newton Wayland]] produced the latter two albums.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Two books for children were based on the 1970s ''ZOOM'' series:
*''The ZOOM Catalog'' ({{ISBN|0394825322}}), published by [[Random House]] in 1972, was a collection of stories, poems, plays, jokes and activities from the show, featuring the second cast.
*''Do a ZOOMdo'', published by [[Little Brown]] in 1975, was a collection of activities from the show, featuring cast members from the second and third seasons.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
On December 1, 1998, WGBH released the video-and-book set ''Best of the 70s'' and ''ZOOMers Revisited — Where Are They Now?'' ({{ISBN|1578072077}}).{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
On October 28, 2008, WGBH released a two-DVD set, ''ZOOM Back to the '70s''. The first DVD was a reissue of ''Best of the 70s'', with extras consisting of behind the scenes stills set to the theme song and a 10-question quiz asking what a few of the cast members are doing today. The second DVD consisted of four episodes from the series.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}
==50th anniversary==
At the show's 50th anniversary in 2022, WGBH posted all surviving episodes online.<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Archive of Public Broadcasting Search Results |url=https://americanarchive.org/catalog?f%5Baccess_types%5D%5B%5D=online&q=+titles:%22Zoom%22&sort=episode_number_sort+asc |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=americanarchive.org |language=en}}</ref> On January 28, 2022, original executive producer Christopher Sarson and members of the first cast appeared in online video chats,<ref>{{Citation |title=COME ON AND ZOOM! 50th Anniversary Virtual Celebration |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xv6xHH0rG8 |access-date=2023-12-20 |language=en}}</ref> followed on February 2, 2022, by a chat with Sarson and cast members from the second and third seasons.<ref>{{Citation |title=“C’MON AND ZOOM” 50th Anniversary Virtual Event, Feb 2, 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu9T1UmRjmQ |access-date=2023-12-20 |language=en}}</ref>
== See also ==
* ''[[Play School (British TV series)|Play School]]'', the series ''Zoom'' was inspired by
* ''[[Studio See]]'', another PBS children's program that used content from viewers
* [[ZOOM (1999 TV series)|''Zoom'' (1999 TV series)]], 1999 remake of the 1972 series
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0143080|Zoom}}
*[http://openvault.wgbh.org/exhibits/zoom/article “'Come on and ZOOM!': ZOOM and 1970s American Childhood"] by [[Leslie Paris]]
*[https://www.davidkamp.com/sunny-days Sunny Days (book)] by David Kamp
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''ZOOM''
|list =
{{Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series}}
{{Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program}}
}}
{{WGBH}}
{{Former PBS Kids shows}}
[[Category:Television series by WGBH]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:1970s American children's television series]]
[[Category:1972 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:1978 American television series endings]]
[[Category:PBS Kids shows]]
[[Category:PBS original programming]]
[[Category:American children's education television series]]
[[Category:Television series about children]]
[[Category:Television shows filmed in Boston]]